Friday, 29 January 2016

We Live in the Arctic, 1947 "The Kitikmeot Heritage Society was recently contacted by the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections and Archives with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and they have preserved and digitized a 1947 film titled, 'We Live in the Arctic'. Which includes some scenes from Canada around Paulatuk and with the RCMP were in Cambridge Bay, the power schooner Tudlik, and Inuit hunters cooking caribou meat over a fire (scenes from Canada begin at ~ 28-36 min).The film was made by Alaskan homesteaders Bud and Connie Helmericks during a flight along the north coast of Alaska and into Canada. Restoration of the film was made possible though a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation."

"In the late hours of January 14th, Yellowknife driver Neil Johnston
was traveling along a remote section of Highway 1 when he came across
a young couple whose vehicle had gone into the ditch. They were shaken
but uninjured. There was no cell coverage in the area, but Neil got a
message through to our Operations Centre and asked them to contact the
RCMP. He shoveled snow away from the exhaust and grill to ensure the
vehicle remained running and stayed with the couple until the police
arrived on scene.
We would like to recognize Neil for his act of kindness and
demonstrating what it means to be a professional driver."

Wednesday, 20 January 2016

Report recommends Ottawa set up new fund for northern infrastructure

"... A federal board is warning Ottawa that doling out infrastructure cash based on population is shortchanging the North, where costs are much higher and communities are small.

In a report to be released on Wednesday, the National Aboriginal Economic Development Board is calling for changes to the way infrastructure money is spread across the country.

The federally appointed advisory board is particularly concerned with the rules for the New Building Canada Plan, a $14-billion, 10-year program that started in 2014. There is an urgency to the debate given that the federal Liberals have said the fund has about $10-billion left, and the government's priority is to fast-track approvals under that program while it works on rules for the additional infrastructure spending promised during the election campaign.

"Since the majority of infrastructure funding is based on a per capita formula, it puts the north at a disadvantage compared to the south due to a substantially lower population," says the report, which recommends Ottawa set up a new fund specifically for northern infrastructure.

"People don't realize how difficult it is to live up north," said Hilda Broomfield-Letemplier, president of Pressure Pipe Steel Fabrication Ltd. in Newfoundland and Labrador and a member of the economic development board that is releasing Wednesday's report.

While the rest of Canada works itself into a frenzy over $7 cauliflower and other unpleasant aspects of a low Canadian dollar, northern Canadians have been dealing with exorbitant prices for years.

Getting food and other goods across the North is a costly logistical challenge owing to a wide range of infrastructure issues, including inadequate sea and airports and the reliance on ice roads and airstrips...."

Larsen told The Province he knows the pot mailing move isn't legal, but that he's totally OK with the possible threat of legal action—based mainly on the fact that he doesn't think the police will do anything.

"It's not legal to mail people weed ... but most of Canada's marijuana laws are made to be broken, so that's just another one," he told the BC newspaper.

"I don't think any Liberal MP is going to call the police, and if they do I don't think the police are going to come after me for a gram of pot."

The gram of doja is bundled with a copy of his book Cannabis in Canada: The Illustrated History, which tells the tale of how marijuana in Canada has come so far from its humble beginnings as just another herb, man. The book costs $10, which is roughly around the same street price of the dank it's sent with.

When asked by VICE if any Liberal MPs had received the pot yet, the party could not immediately confirm, although a media spokesperson called the move "very ambitious."

Toronto Police Const. Craig Brister said that the legality surrounding the issue is a little tricky, mostly because of the various investigations that need to be done for such a small amount of pot. Brister said that even if it's obvious that Larsen sent it, the amount of effort that would be needed to prove he sent a gram of pot in the court of law would render it a waste of time.

Brister did note, however, that if the RCMP could prove that Larsen sent all 184 grams, it could be a larger issue for him, but that the person who opened the mail is definitely not getting in any shit.

"There's no two situations that could be handled the same," he said. "Like, if you found a bullet on the side of the road, you brought it home, and you called the police, I'm not going to come and arrest you. That doesn't make sense. There has to be a level of common sense with these situations, and this clearly isn't one that warrants a [serious reaction]."

The BC RCMP detachment was not immediately available for reply as to whether they would be pursuing charges against Larsen.